Journey's End
by bushmonkey
Summary: After Tails puts Cream's life in danger it is up to Knuckles to save the two as well as saving Amy from her past along the way. A dangerous three day journey ensues with an unforeseen ending waiting for the trio.
1. An Understanding Goodbye

Disclaimer: All Sonic characters (Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Cream, Rouge) copyright Sega/Sonic Team.

_A/N: This is a first for me so enjoy! (I hope!)_

"I never expected it to turn out like this, you have to believe me." A Pink hedgehog was struggling to say looking at her friends face about to fall apart. "I just…you do understand why it has to be this way don't you? I just wish there was some way, but…., no I just can't…but look, no doubt we'll see each other again and anyway we can easily stay in touch can't we? You have my phone number and e-mail address, it'll be fine! Don't worry about me. Are you…promise me you'll be o.k, o.k?"

The hedgehog gently placed a hand on her friends shoulders who was now looking lost and afraid as the reality of the past days events were coming to a close. Her friend, a cream rabbit looked at her standing there, realising this could be the last time they ever see each other again, _no, _she thought to herself, _It won't be_, to help her friend, the rabbit, Cream, swallowed hard and put on a brave face.

"I'll be fine, Tails is still around and Knuckles makes an appearance every now and then. I…I…" Cream suddenly fell silent trying to hold back tears, but it was impossible, the pressure was too much, the damn burst. "Oh Amy, I'm gonna miss you, you've always been there for me, no one else can replace you, please don't go, you, we, everyone can help work something out, I'm sure." The rabbit pleaded.

"I'm sorry Cream, I can't stay, it's just too dangerous for me now."

The two stood there looking at each other vacantly trying to take in these last few moments, both concentrating hard through teary eye's to remember every feature, mark and mannerism. They were both thrown out of the trance like state by the sound of a roaring engine followed by a couple of blasts of an impatient horn.

Amy sighed lightly. "Well, I'd better be going, my taxi's here, better not leave him waiting. So, Good-bye Cream, our paths will cross again someday; I'm sure of it."

With that said Amy turned to head towards her taxi, the taxi that would remove one more of Cream's friends from her so far short life. In the last few moments she stood there thinking about everyone that she had grown to like and how each was slowly being removed from her life.

After accidentally killing a young family in a fight against Eggman Sonic fled the country and the bounty that was put on his name. Ironically Knuckles then left to become a bounty hunter himself, he said it was his castle in spain, whatever that meant. Rouge was now living on some other part of Mobius with her so called husband. Cosmo had been killed and no one will ever forget that. Tails was still around, she liked him, but he had never been the same since he had to do the deed, he never really interacted with anyone anymore. All that was left was Amy, and she was about to walk out of Creams life. The air then became heavy; her body seemed to weigh a lot more than she remembered. In her mind she began to run to Amy, her body sluggishly and reluctantly picking up the pace. She threw herself around her best friend.

"I'll never forget you Amy, no matter how long I live. You've been the best friend I've ever had. Good-bye and I do understand." By the time she had said this she was looking at Amy sitting in the taxi about to close the door.

"Good-bye Cream, I'll never forget you either. Look after yourself."

With that said the taxi driver brought the engine up to a fast idle then accelerated away. Within a few seconds the Taxi had removed yet another person from Cream's life. She stood staring into the distance, trying to pick out the taxi through the mist before turning around and walking back into her now empty life.


	2. A Familiar Stranger

Disclaimer: All Sonic characters (Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Cream, Rouge) copyright Sega/Sonic Team.

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"Six years on this day, this day, six years ago." Cream muttered to herself staring out of her cottage window across the fields. A gentle, warm breeze blew through the place as she sat there thinking about how things had changed. She liked these moments, thinking about the past and how things had moved on, the days with the gang and the adventures of going into space that had made such a mark on her life. Only last year her mother had died, that's when she decided to move, too many memories back home, as well as other reasons, this was a better place anyway, a nice small cottage with a garden all the way around and the views of the long sweeping meadows and fields that stretched for miles. It was such a great day; it was nearly always a great day. Cream loved this cottage and enjoyed her quiet life. She decided she had lived enough in the first few years of her life, now she just wanted peace and quiet, how many other sixteen year olds can say that!

That's enough of that she whispered to herself. She got up off the window seat and headed over towards the kitchen until she was interrupted by a knock at the door. She stood still for a second or two, not knowing what to do. Cream led a very solitary life now, the only social interaction she got was when she went shopping or when Mrs. Moodridge, a squirrel from the next house a mile or so away came over to see if she wanted any of her homemade delicacies, she only came over a couple of days ago though. Needless to say Cream would come to regret opening the door at this particular time, she didn't know it yet, but she was about to become responsible for one of the most horrific moments that would follow her for the rest of her life.

She had no idea who could be at the door; her neighbour had only come over the other day. She then felt very worried as her palms started to sweat, suddenly living on your own did not seem such a great idea. Eventually she calmed down, convincing herself it was just an innocent person passing or someone like that, tourists maybe. Cream walked to the front door, grappled with the lock and pulled the handle revealing a really unexpected surprise on the other side, someone who she considered might as well have been dead. She just stood there dumbfounded and surprised.

"Uh. Um, Hi." Said the voice nervously, very unsure of itself. "Are, you, or can I come in please, I think we've got a bit of catching up to do."

Cream stood there staring at the complete stranger at her front door. It was like seeing a ghost, only the ghost was defiantly real. She didn't know it, but the decision she was about to make would change her whole life.

"Oh, yeah, sure, come in, sorry I'm just a bit surprised, that's all."

"Thanks Cream!"

"I was about to make myself some hot chocolate, would you like something."

"On such a hot day? O.K, sure, I'll have one as well if you don't mind."

The stranger sat himself down on one of the seats and sank right into it to point where he was almost smothered. He familiarised himself with the surroundings, taking in the open ceiling complete with the dark oak beams supporting the great weight. Despite the creamy beige paint on the plastered walls the cottage was very dim, what light that came through the small window panes was absorbed by the dark-stained furniture, and the dark green carpet. Cream then came and sat on the burnt-red sofa opposite the stranger, handing him the hot chocolate.

"So, uh, Tails, what brings you here, in fact, how did you find me I…we haven't seen anything of each other since, well, you know." Cream inquired gently, not wanting to scare him off with too many questions.

"It's O.K. Cream you can say it, since Cosmo died. I just…I just couldn't speak to anyone after Cosmo's death, I found it really hard, I loved her Cream. If you must know, it was a few months after your Mothers funeral I finally decided enough was enough I had wasted four or five years sulking, I've missed everything…"

"Wait, you were at my mother's funeral?" Cream practically shouted. Then she suddenly remembered she did see him! At the back, he slipped out as soon as the service had finished.

"I new Sonic had gone, so I went to find you, but at your old house was an old fox who struggled to speak, he just said, 'she's moved on you see'. So I tried to find Amy, but couldn't, I was lost since Vanilla's funeral up until now. It was thanks to Knuckles I was able to find you. I hired him to seek you out, I think he was pleased to have a different kind of job for once. Anyway, that's all that's happened to me since we last saw each other. Could you please tell me though, what's happened to everybody?"

Cream took a sip of her chocolate, glanced out the window and then took in a deep breath and exhaled it into a large sigh before commencing with her story. This would be the first time she had spoken of it, other than to her mother.

"I'll shorten it down for now, I don't think I can tell you about it all in one go. It goes something like this. About a year after Sonic fled, Amy met up with another hedgehog, Sven. He was a very nice hedgehog I really liked him and Amy loved him to pieces. He loved her as well and was very protective over her, he spent loads of money on her and gave her anything she wanted, he was really rich. That never really mattered to Amy though, she was just happy being with him. Anyway, uh, we never questioned where Sven got his money from, but then it became clear. His plan involved Amy, but little did he know she wasn't as easily won over like his last 'girlfriends'. He had experience, he said they were going on holiday with a few of his friends, when they reached their destination it turned out to be that communist country. I don't know it's name, I don't really understand politics and stuff, anyway. Amy didn't question it at the time until they went on a night out. Sven made them dress in black and they drove to a bank. Here I think they all got out and made it in, Amy was being forced along by a gun to her head at this time. They made it in and Amy was blackmailed, if she didn't do as she was told it would be her life and ours. They made the break, but four guards came because of the noise, she said she tried to shoot them, but missed, she then saw they were only children as they came running towards her, it was Sven and his friends that gunned them down, just kids Tails. Amy raced into the street but got knocked out by someone, most likely Sven. When they got back to this country Amy was free to go, but Sven and his friends were found guilty and had to spend two years in prison. You see, Sven planned to use Amy as the guilty one, leaving her at the scene, but after she ran into the street the only thing they could do was escape back to this country."

"Two years, is that it? For shooting kids?" Tails questioned

"Yeah, I thought it was a short sentence as well. Whilst he was in, his other connections threatened Amy with death as soon as he was released, so within 3 or so days she packed up and left the country not telling anyone where she was going or for how long. When he was released he came to me, but my mother was able to fend them off using the police and her network of friends, after she died I thought it best to move and here I am, hiding I guess you could say." Cream let out a sigh. "Amy did give me her e-mail address and phone number, but she never replies and I've given up, for all I know she could have died on the trip to the airport."

"Hey, don't worry Cream, you'll find her eventually, I expect she'll risk a visit in a couple of years time." Tails said, trying to reassure the rabbit. "Anyway, if he's going to kill Amy why didn't he do it there and then on the night?"

"Too much going on I guess, he would have had other reasons though, from what we've heard he's a very calculating man, everything he does, he does for a reason."

"I'm here now anyway and I'm not going anywhere, I'm back to the way I was!" That seemed to cheer the rabbit up again.

"Yey! Hey, do you wanna stay here tonight, it is a long way back to your house and we've got loads more to catch up on, I have a spare room if you want to. I'm sorry I don't have any technical stuff like a T.V or anything." Cream smiled at the fox, how could he disagree with that?

"Yeah sure, I'd love to, although I haven't really been doing much recently! So I think it'll be me that's gonna be doing the catching up!"

With that decided the two sat there until the early hours of the morning chatting and then retired to bed, both feeling something they hadn't felt for a long time. They both felt complete again, like they were no longer alone.


	3. Reflections

Disclaimer: All Sonic characters (Tails, Knuckles, Cream) copyright Sega/Sonic Team.

_A/N: Appreciate the review! Nice to know someone's actually reading this, thank-you! Anyway, there's a couple of short chapters coming up (Including this one) before the story really gets going._

_

* * *

It's your life or hers._  
_I know you know, so you are going to tell me what you know._  
_Tell us nothing and I will kill you and everyone you know._  
_Tell us nothing, but remember; I always get what I want in the end._  
_Who are you? I can hear the question now. You need not know. When you decide and the time is right, I'll be there and that's the only guarantee you'll get._

A worried face looked up from the letter, it made no sense, who was this from and who is 'her'?

---

"Hey Tails! Look what I got!"

Tails glanced up from the flower bed he was poking and prodding, why was he even doing this? He knew nothing about gardening he thought to himself. As he looked up he was greeted by an over excited smile on Cream's face. He always did find it slightly amusing the way she would get excited at almost anything, the thought of easily impressed fluttered in his mind for a brief moment, then he decided he better answer her.

"Oh, what is it Cream?" Tails said trying to look around her back to see what she was holding.

"It's a surprise! You'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out!" Cream said teasingly.

"Oh, come on, that's unfair! Come on Cream, tell me, please?" Tails pleaded trying to give a sad expression on his face, but failing miserably.

"Nope! You'll have to wait!" With that said Cream ran into the cottage and hid Tails surprise in a draw. If Cream new what lay ahead of them at that point she would have given it to Tails then.

"Hey Tails what do you want for lunch?" Cream asked, poking her head outside the front door.

"Whatever Cream, all your food taste's great!" Tails shouted back.

This made Cream giggle a bit, for some reason she was feeling a lot happier and more comfortable with Tails around. The place no longer felt so empty and sterile. Tails realised he was beginning to feel happier and more alive then he was, although he thought part of it was the countryside, it was great! Clean air, sun and best of all it was silent compared to where he used to live. The only sound was that of the trees and the various little animals that went about there daily business and it was never interrupted by the rumbling of a train or noisy tourists. Tails had only been lodging with Cream for a couple of weeks but it really did feel like home to him. He only wished it could be a permanent arrangement.

The two ate their lunch outside in silence, just taking in the long sweeping views across the fields and soaking up the afternoon sun, listening to the birds sing, the wind rustling the leaves on the trees, the golden fields of wheat in the distance bowing to the wind whenever it blew. It almost looked like a golden sea.

"So what did you do before I came along Cream?" Tails was aching for days wanting to ask this question, but he was just too worried something horrible would come out.

"Not much really, I went into town once a week, my neighbour who came by yesterday always comes once every few days. I just…I always went for walks, to think about things. I have no idea what I want form the future, I just know I've had enough adventures to last my lifetime." After saying this Cream looked at the grass, making a small figure of eight pattern with her hand.

This was the time, Tails was over Cosmo, they were getting along great and everything was going great, or should she wait? Maybe it would ruin everything…

"Cream? Hello, Cream?" Tails voice gradually faded in.

"Oh, uh, I must have dozed off for a bit there, sorry!" Cream said.

"For a moment there it…"

"Tails, there's something I've wanted to ask you for years. We've, you've, I, no, hold on, um." Cream stuttered as she tried to collect her thoughts. "Tails I know Cosmo's death was hard for you but well, we all move on and I hope you don't mind if I ask you to, um will you, or would you…" Cream never realised it would be this hard and the following interruption really didn't help.

"You two, there you are, and you're both together, great. Listen, don't say anything, this is extremely important, we have to go, leave!"


	4. I Always Get What I Want

Disclaimer: All Sonic characters (Tails, Knuckles, Cream) copyright Sega/Sonic Team.

A/N: Here's the fourth instalment, the one that sets the story going – finally! Just a quick note, I've used CAPITALS for a character's voice. It doesn't mean they are shouting – I've seen this technique used a couple of times before and found it added a sort of distance to the character, I'm not convinced about it in my story, but thought I'd give it a go! Enjoy!

* * *

IT IS TIME FRIEND. 

"Whoa, what, where, who, oh." Knuckles jumped up from his chair and stood behind his desk facing the source of the deep, level and calm voice. "Svenson, I should have known it was you, now the letter makes perfect sense. Why did I not figure it out before!"

A FAST LEARNER ISN'T HE BOYS, BUT PLEASE, LET'S KEEP THIS INFORMAL, CALL ME SVEN.

Knuckles felt his face getting extremely hot with that comment as Sven's two acting bodyguards laughed. Knuckles kept his cool, not wanting to piss him off. That would be a reckless and dangerous thing to try, especially now as he was on his own and pretty much out numbered.

"I'm not going to tell you anything, so just go now."

OH, THAT'S NOT VERY HOSPITABLE OF YOU, IS THIS HOW YOU TREAT ALL YOUR CUSTOMERS?

"I'm a bounty hunter, I have no customers, I find my own jobs, hunting criminals like you!" Knuckles emphasised, clearly laying out his role.

OH REALLY, SEE, WE ARE ALL A LITTLE CONFUSED HERE. WE SAW A YOUNG FOX ENTER HERE AND REGIS HERE OVERHEARD THE CONVERSATION, COMPLETELY BY ACCIDENT YOU UNDERSTAND. WE THOUGHT YOU WERE A PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR HUNTING DOWN LONG LOST FRIENDS AND FAMILY.

"What? No, you leave him alone, he's nothing to do with you or…."

WELL THEN GIVE US WHAT WE WANT, OR WE'LL GET HIM, AND HIS RABBIT FRIEND. THEY MAKE A CUTE COUPLE, WOULDN'T YOU AGREE?

Knuckles grabbed the photo that Sven was handing to him.

I KNOW WHERE THEY ARE, YES, THEY'RE UNDER SURVEILLANCE. IT'S THE ONE THAT PUT ME AWAY, TOOK AWAY TWO YEARS OF MY LIFE THAT I WANT, SHE TOOK AWAY TWO YEARS OF MINE, THEN I TAKE HER LIFE. LOCKING AWAY THE GENIUS THAT IS MY MIND IS A CRIMINAL OFFENCE IN ITSELF.

"So you don't know where she is? Good, I'm not going to tell you!" Knuckles said stubbornly, though feeling quite relieved he did not have to worry about her as well.

WELL THEN, I ALWAYS GET WHAT I WANT! By now his voice was sounding less controlled and louder. TELL ME WHERE SHE IS! YOU REMEMBER THE NOTE DON'T YOU! TELL ME! OR I WILL KILL YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS.

"I'll never do anything for you!" With that said Knuckles jumped backwards smashing through the window and quickly glided to the ground. Regis and the other Crony moved forward taking the safety catch of their weapons.

NO, LEAVE HIM, HE'LL TELL ME, HE WON'T EVEN KNOW HE'S DOING IT.

Knuckles quickly collected himself, despite his mind being a mass of now random thoughts running along various different trains of thought. He hopped on his bike and floored it; he had to warn Tails and Cream, get them away from this place.

His bike ran out of petrol about half a mile from Creams cottage, he quickly got onto his feet and ran as fast as he could possibly make it. His feet felt like lead blocks, he wasn't used to this much physical exertion now; it had been a long time since he was feeling extremely fit. He ran as though his life depended on it, although, in the back of his mind he knew he was already dead, he was living on borrowed time. Sven would almost certainly 'deal' with him. He saw Cream and Tails sitting on the grass. He took in a lungful of air and shouted to them.

"You two, there you are, and you're both together, great. Listen, don't say anything, this is extremely important, we have to go, leave!"

He eventually made it and collapsed next to them, looking into their worried and surprised faces. He briefly told them about his meeting in the office which seemed to distress the pair of them.

"We're all in trouble we have to go now and I mean now, grab what you can. We have only one choice. I know where we're going, but I can't tell you here, not now, just grab what you can and let's go now!" Knuckles said urgently.

Tails got to his feet, but noticed Cream staring blankly into the ground, still in shock he guessed.

"Cream, come one, lets go, we have to move now, you heard Knuckles." Tails got no response.

"Cream, come on, we all have to stick together now. I know it's hard but, please, we have to move." Knuckles shook her slightly as he said this. She eventually came out of her trance like state.

"Yeah, o.k, I'll get some clothes and…some food I guess."

After no more than 5 minutes the trio was ready to go. Knuckles knew his bike was out of petrol, so he ran back to hide it in some undergrowth a little way from the road to disguise his tracks, the three then ran down the dirt road on another adventure, only this would defiantly not be like any other.


	5. Getting A Ride

Disclaimer: All Sonic characters (Tails, Knuckles, Cream) copyright Sega/Sonic Team.

Here's another chapter!

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"Ah ha, just what we want." Knuckles said in delight.

He was feeling very tired, the three of them had been on the run since three in the afternoon and now it was coming up to eleven at night. He knew it was hard on them, Cream especially, but he also knew they had to keep moving, their lives depended on it. They had been running (although it was now down to a fast walk) for eight hours yet Knuckles had never heard a car or anything in the distance, were they even being followed he thought to himself. He decided he couldn't take the chance that they were not being hunted by Sven, every second they gained was an advantage. Knuckles mind was for once raked with worry. Should he tell the others about the dangerous situation they were in? They stopped asking questions about three or four hours ago, probably through tiredness, mostly through the little answers they were getting that led to more questions. He had to protect them, he just had to make sure they got through this alive.

"All I see is a big house with a big garden Knuckles. They look pretty rich as well." Tails half muttered to himself.

"Yeah, but look what's behind that gate. Oh yeah, our problems are over now." Knuckles clapped his hands together once triumphantly as he ran over to the gate slinking through the metal bars, the others quickly joined him. There was just enough light to see a large five seater car. Silver as well, at least it wouldn't be noticed Knuckles thought to himself.

"You're not thinking of stealing that car are you Knuckles?" Inquired Cream who was now half asleep.

"Uh, well." Knuckles thought carefully here, he defiantly did not want to upset Cream at this point. "There's no use in hiding it Cream, we're desperate and they can afford it, look at the house, and the car in the garage there. They have insurance so don't feel so bad." This gave little comfort to the rabbit, but she nodded slightly, suddenly realising the stark reality of their situation was now unfolding before her eyes.

Knuckles managed to lift the bonnet with relative ease and yanked off the lead going to the battery terminal to silence the alarm. He then fumbled around in the fuse box, removed what he guessed was the fuse related to the alarm, then followed the wiring to the immobiliser and by-passed that. All he had to do now was connect the battery and short out the ignition circuit. Simple, until light poured out of a flood lamp on the side of the garage.

"Ah, that's better, now I can see!" Knuckles shouted, delighted by the light. Of course he wasn't so delighted when he saw the owner of the house, a large, bear like creature, only with a very flat muzzle and large human like eyes, waddling down the long path from his front door.

He heard the creature mumble something incoherent; he had obliviously been sleeping or something. Nevertheless, he was big enough to crush them all, now he had to start the car before the bear caught them. Knuckles shouted for the others to get in. He managed to grab a long, flat piece of what he hoped was metal off the floor, then dropped it. The bear was getting closer, he could hear the footsteps. He picked up the metal stick and placed it across the battery terminal and a fuse, the starter motor began turning, but failed to start the car. The sound of this caused the great creature to start a stumbling kind of trot which made him look like a great boulder careering towards the car.

"Come on." Knuckles said under his breath.

On the third attempt the car sprung into life, the sound of its great V8 engine filling up the night. Knuckles quickly slammed the bonnet shut and jumped into the driver's seat. He placed his hand on the gear stick and threw it back, but it only went through two clicks, something was wrong. He glanced out the window; the bear was at the foot of the garage ambling up the drive towards the car. After Tails shouted him out of his trance Knuckles looked down at the gear stick, it was a manual.

"Jesus Christ! Damn!" Knuckles shouted.

"What's wrong?" Tails said panicking.

"It's a manual, I've never driven one before! To top that off we've got a great metal gate behind us. We're screwed!" Knuckles screeched, slowly loosing his cool.

"Knuckles, those gates didn't look too strong earlier, if you hit them where they join in the middle, they will probably be forced open." Tails reassured the echidna. All of a sudden a shadow began descending on the car, making it dark again. Everyone looked through the windscreen to see the body of the bear lumbering through the air.

"Oh God!" Knuckles shouted in alarm "lets see, uh, reverse, gas and"

The car jolted backwards violently, but soon began to pick up some speed before another jolt threw everyone forward, only this one was accompanied with breaking, crunching metal as the gates were forced open and the rear of the car was crushed slightly. They did it; they were out on the road, the bear still lumbering toward them though. Knuckles threw it into first, at first the car jolted forward a couple of times, and nearly died the third time Knuckles tried, then he floored the accelerator and the car sped off, rear wheels throwing dirt and dust into the face of the bear. Everyone in the car was screaming and shouting at their success. Stealing the car brought back memories of facing danger head on and the adrenalin flow that came with it.

After things settled down and Knuckles had got the hang of changing gears Tails decided to ask the question again.

"Knuckles, you still haven't told us where we are going, or why we're going, there is defiantly more to this Sven thing than we know or else we wouldn't be running so hard."

"O.K, there is more to it, but, for now we have to keep moving, you two get some sleep and we'll stop somewhere in the morning and I'll tell you then. O.K?" Knuckles said finally answering Tails question.

"That sounds like a good idea, you sure you'll be alright driving through the night. It must have been a long day for you?"

"I'll be fine tails." Knuckles said as he tapped his brown overcoat pocket to check his essentials where there.

With that said Tails rested up against the door of the car. Cream then moved across and rested her head on his shoulder and she put an arm around his stomach. Tails could see she was sad at leaving her home behind, so placed an arm round her shoulders to comfort her before they both fell asleep.

All that was left was Knuckles sitting in silence, except for the constant light roar of the engine and the endless dirt track in front of him, the headlights occasionally picking out the beady eyes belonging to the creatures of the night.

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Just a quick note – loads of you have read this story and I wouldn't mind maybe just a couple more reviews from people just to tell me what I'm doing right, what I'm doing wrong and so on – I'm new to all this so any help/guidance would be great.


	6. Why We Run

Disclaimer: All Sonic characters (Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Cream) copyright Sega/Sonic Team.

Thanks for the reviews guys - at least I know my stories are readable! I find it really hard to look critically at my own stories, is that the same for everyone? Anyway, on with the story!

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Cream opened her eyes too a fuzzy world. She was feeling hot and fairly uncomfortable. The world was rushing past her out of her bedroom window accompanied by the occasional bump as well as a strange droning sound. She then heard an unfamiliar voice commenting on a hold-up on route three nine one, slowly sitting up the reality of the situation then hit like seeing her mother's lifeless body for the first and last time, a brief sickening numbness flashed through her body. She was in a car heading somewhere, with, what she decided, was a possible mad man behind the wheel.

Cream had decided Knuckles maybe trying to help them, but he was no longer the Knuckles she knew. She knew he carried guns to kill and enjoyed his drink, but now he was behind the wheel of a stolen car, and not his first she decided, how he started it so fast she would probably never know, he knew exactly what he was looking for when he did it all. How had he changed so much over the years?

"Morning Cream, how ya feeling?" Knuckles said turning the radio down, shutting out the rest of the traffic report.

"I'm feeling o.k I guess." She replied groggily as she carefully unwound herself from Tails arms, although not carefully enough to stop waking him.

"Oh, Sorry Tails I didn't mean to wake you." Cream said apologetically.

"That's fine Cream, I think I'd rather be awake now anyway. I'm feeling hungry though, when are we going to stop? We are going to stop aren't we?"

"Yeah, I'm really hungry, and we'll be stopping soon I really gotta take a leak you know. We've just gotta find somewhere suitable I guess, then I can tell you where we are headin'. I can tell you now though, it's going to be about a three day journey kiddo" Knuckles said as plain as possible, he took quite a bit of pride in delivering anything that was less than good news.

All three then sat staring at the road ahead looking for somewhere to stop. Tails noticed the dirt track road had changed into black tarmac over night; however it was still just as rough as the dirt track. Surrounding the road was endless patches of waste land with overgrown grass, occasionally a house would appear on the horizon which they would always pass after about 30 minutes or so, Knuckles was really flooring it. As he was about to head off to sleep again he noticed another building on the horizon, only this time it had a canopy in front of it. It was a filling station with what could be a restaurant.

"There Knuckles, on the left hand side of the road ahead." Tails shouted excitedly.

"Whoa, calm down man! You made me jump! Yeah, I think it's some sort of café, we'll stop there." Knuckles then put his foot harder to the floor and after about twenty minutes they had pulled up into a space.

They all got out of the car and wearily tried to find their feet. Knuckles had put the car on the left of the building adjacent to the pumps. The café was a family run business, but it looked clean and relatively new, although the overcast day made it look dreary and quiet. It looked as though it was always a pretty quiet place, the only sign of business from the outside was a small red car standing next to one of the pumps. That was then joined by a large van, dwarfing the car in its shadow caused by the fluorescent lights from the café.

The three walked through the door and were greeted by the cool air conditioned atmosphere. Knuckles eyed the toilets and made his brief departure from the other two. Tails and Cream decided to wonder over to a table and pulled up a chair each. As they looked around they both agreed it was quiet apart from a large squirrel reading a paper and a family of weasel like creatures studying a map. The stone coloured tiles and white paint on the walls really made the place feel sterile and cold, but nevertheless it was clean. They were both broken out of their sleepy trance like concentration when Knuckles arrived.

After studying the menu Knuckles and Tails decided on a large cooked breakfast with all the usual bits, Cream, after searching for how hungry she was, decided on cereal. The waitress marked everything down on her pad then after five minutes of silence came back with the food. The three of them sat there in an uneasy silence whilst they ate, each lost in their own train of thought wondering what was going to happen. Eventually Knuckles broke the silence with what Tails can Cream had been dying to hear.

"O.K you guys, I think I better tell you where we are going and why. Listen hard because I really don't want to repeat it, it's dangerous and I don't trust anyone in this place." Knuckles stopped for a second or two whilst he collected his thoughts.

"Right, we are heading to visit Amy. I've always known where she lives so…"

"Wait! You've always known? Why did you never tell me, I've really missed her!" Cream shouted at Knuckles, not quite realising how loud she shouted.

"I said listen! You're gonna get us all in trouble in a minute, please just listen!"

"Oh! Sorry Knuckles." She said apologetically.

"That's fine, just be quiet. We did it for your own safety. We knew when Sven came out he would stop at nothing to hunt her down. Sven had no idea where you lived Cream, your new place anyway, that's why I couldn't tell you Amy's address because you would have started writing to her, phoning her and so on. Sven has contacts everywhere, post service, mob connections; he's far more dangerous than we ever thought. Anyway, Sven has always been watching me, and I new where you lived, although I never visited. When Tails came and begged me for your whereabouts I thought no harm would come of it. When I received Sven's note I realised he knew your location Cream. I'm afraid they had Tails under surveillance and they obliviously followed him to your house and I have no doubt they have been watching you ever since, they probably saw our escape, they are not that far behind."

"So I brought Cream into all this trouble?" Tails said sounding slightly depressed.

"I'm afraid so kiddo. Anyway, I have a plan that will hopefully solve all our problems once and for all. Svenson will find out where Amy lives in time, and I think that time is getting close, that's why I want to grab her and take her away, especially seeing as all this has happened now. When we reach her, we'll have to all start new lives again I'm afraid. I know it sounds a lot, but we can all live safely then."

The other two just starred at Knuckles with blank, drawn faces. Slowly, as his words sunk in, they came back to life again.

"We better make a move again, I need to make a call, you grab bottles of water and any food you want for the journey, we won't be stopping again until the evening." Knuckles commanded, walking over to the payphone.

"We're going to see Amy Tails! I'm actually going to see her after all these years!" Shrieked Cream, feeling excited.

"Uh, Cream, I know it's great, but I don't think you understand the situation we are in. Don't you see? If Sven catches us, he'll most likely kill us." Tails said very matter of factly. Luckily though, this comment did not seem to phase Cream too much. She was just excited they were going to see Amy.

"I know Tails. But, we've been through worse haven't we? Look on the bright side!"


	7. Stroud

Disclaimer: All Sonic characters (Tails, Knuckles, Cream, Amy) copyright Sega/Sonic Team.

Hope you're all enjoying the story so far, after this chapter it begins to pick up a bit of pace and move on faster. If I can find enough time I'll try and proof read the rest of the story making any changes, this way I can keep updates short I guess (I hope).

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"That phone call I made back at the café. It was to Amy. I said we'd meet her in three days time so we're really going to have to push it. I'm afraid that means only two stops every twenty-four hours or so o.k? We're already a day behind, I never realised we would have to walk so far to start with. As for sleep, Tails would you be able to do some of the driving. It shouldn't be too bad as we're sticking to the back roads." said Knuckles wearily, the dark tarmac speeding toward him, disappearing under the car like a large, black river.

"Uh, I think I should be able to manage that. Although, I've never driven a regular car before." Tails said apprehensively, he could see that Knuckles was getting slightly irritated. He was probably tired and stressed Tails thought.

"Look. We're travelling on this road for miles. All you have to do is hold the wheel and keep your foot on the gas, nothing more. If we change seats fairly quickly, within five or six seconds it should be fine, you won't have to change gear. Anyway, we'd better find another car now that we've stopped once. We better not take any chances."

"You're going to steal another car?" Cream said worried.

"'fraid so." Knuckles replied bluntly.

After an hour of leaving the café they were a hundred and sixteen miles closer to their destination Knuckles noted. Getting into the car a second time had felt a lot harder for all of them. They had been on the road now for nearly an entire day. It felt like a week to the trio who were all feeling exhausted, confused and slightly worried. All three of them had spent most of their time pondering on the future and where this journey would eventually lead them, but in spite of Creams endless optimism and the good nature of Tails along with Knuckles' brawn and experience, they all thought or new somehow that the end was going to be less than happy.

Despite their drowsy state Tails and Knuckles perked up when they saw a small town approaching. Well, not really a town as much as a few houses and a couple of shops. Most importantly though, there would be cars, and probably quite a few. Knuckles quickly rummaged through one of the storage bins in the car and grabbed a creased up map before throwing it at Cream.

"Hey, tell us where we are Cream."

A look of confusion and worry flew across her face; she had no idea how to read a map and she really did not want to make Knuckles angry. She continued to unfold it though, maybe she could help. Tails noticed the worried look and slid across the back seat towards her. He reached out to grab it off her, but decided to teach her instead. It was always handy to know how to read a map.

"Don't worry Cream, it's fairly simple, you just have to work out where we've just been and which way we're heading." Tails smiled at her, she just weakly smiled back.

"So, this is where we came from down here. Since then we've done about 900 miles, so that café was, ah here it is. So we must be here. In that case then this town is Stroud. That's a weird name. Oh, now you know which way we're going it might be a good idea to turn it around to point in the right direction if you find that easier." Tails explained as cheerfully as the circumstances allowed him.

"I think I've got that. Thanks Tails, I'll try to keep track of it now." The rabbit smiled warmly at Tails. Tails, suddenly feeling uncomfortable for no reason that he could think of, quickly averted his gaze looking around trying to find something to lay his eyes on until he found Knuckles.

"Knuckles the town's called Stroud. Does that mean anything to you?" Tails questioned.

"No, nothing, just wandered what it was called. Curiosity I guess."

After a further fifteen minutes Knuckles pulled the car over on the side of the road.

"From here we walk. The message of the stolen car may have reached them so we better not take the chance. Better grab all the water, it's a hot day."

There were no objections from either Tails or Cream. They were slowly learning that what Knuckles says goes and that any suggestions he gave about doing something were in fact imperatives. So on they walked. The town looked a lot further away now they were walking, especially in the scorching mid-day sun. Eventually they all arrived feeling completely drained of life, suffering in the intense heat.

The town was built around the road, with a few buildings on one side and another cluster on the other. The buildings were all painted grey a bright cornflower colour, and had metal shutters covering the windows; one even had its door covered by a metal shutter. The three guessed it was to keep the heat out. There were two general shops and in total around eight or nine houses and a couple of abandoned buildings as well as a small guest house and next to that. Bingo! A car park complete with three cars. Even though the trio were struggling in the heat Knuckles pushed them along wanting to get moving again.

"Come on, every where's closed they must all be taking an afternoon break or something it's the perfect time to grab a car." Knuckles said in a silenced voice trying not to attract the attention of any residents, if there were any.

In the car park were three cars, one was a large blue 4x4, the other two were cars both built for crunching miles and miles of road. One looked like a large family car, while the next was more of an executive car. After taking a minute to decide Knuckles went for the moral high ground and chose the executive looking one, there was more chance of that person being able to recover from the cost and it had air conditioning. It still looked pretty inconspicuous anyway. He found it a lot easier to start than the other car. Maybe because it was easier, or because he didn't have a great animal bounding toward him, at any rate he was glad to get it going.

"Right climb in and let's go." Knuckles said.

The others jumped in, throwing the various bags they had onto the back seat. Before they had even shut the doors Knuckles was carefully trying to get out of the car park and away as quiet as he could. Any loud sound in this town would defiantly wake everyone up. He managed it flawlessly and in seconds they were back on the open road again, just a long straight road leading up to the horizon. Although on the horizon they could see a gentle bend heading into what would eventually become the sunset.


	8. Waiting For Trouble

Disclaimer: All Sonic characters (Tails, Knuckles, Cream) copyright Sega/Sonic Team.

O.K, here's another chapter. About the car starting thing – I never really thought of that, bit of a big thing to forget about really that Knuckles has spent more or less every waking hour on Angel/Floating island. I suppose I always thought this story takes place in a sort of alternate reality, or maybe I could re-do chapter 1 and explain how everyone changed and came about with these strange new skills, maybe I'll do that a bit later on, yeah.

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"Hey, Tails you couldn't take over for a bit could you? It's been more than a day and I really need some sleep." Knuckles said wearily.

"Yeah Sure." Tails said glancing at the clock. Zero thirty four.

Tails glanced over at Cream, who was now sleeping, trying to work out a route to the front of the car without disturbing her. She looked so peaceful and oblivious to the world in her sleep; he really wished he could be like that now. A small smile grew across his face just before he climbed through the middle of the car to the passenger seat.

"Ready Tails?"

"Ready!"

The two flawlessly switched seats, Knuckles soon getting comfortable in the passenger seat and after five minutes he was dead to the world as well. Tails just set his eyes on the road ahead watching as the road disappeared under the car, white line after line after line after line, after only an hour he was feeling tired and could feel his eye lids getting incredibly heavy and slowly dropping.

Tails suddenly opened his eyes finding he was lying in his bed back at his old house. He lay there and just listened for a second or two, resting up a bit more, he was still feeling extremely tired. His fridge freezer in the kitchen emitted a constant droning noise and that was accompanied by the rumble and rustle of the people outside, walking along to their destinations. Suddenly his bed began shaking violently and his fridge's constant droning grew higher in pitch, he wondered what was going on, before he had time to figure that out a distant scream filtered through the window, getting closer and louder. Tails was then thrown out of bed and on hitting the floor opened his eyes to reveal a dark night, broken by the intense light pouring from the cars headlights. He then realised what had happed and quickly came back to his senses.

"I woke up just in time! For Christ sake don't do that again! Stay awake damn it!" Knuckles shouted angrily, releasing his grip from the wheel.

"Sorry! I'm feeling tired as well Knuckles, it's not just you that needs sleep!" Tails retorted loudly.

"I've been driving for thirty hours or more and I managed to stay awake for that! You haven't even managed an hour!" Knuckles spat.

"If you weren't such a slave driver maybe we wouldn't all be so tired…"

"Slave driver! We're running for our lives. I don't know how much your life is worth, but I value mine!"

"You guys!"

"There's no point in running if we're completely exhausted, I almost crashed cause I was too tired, what good is that!" Screamed Tails.

"You two!"

"Look. We're being followed, I know it, we can't see it, but we are. This is why we can't take a plane, use the proper roads or any of that, keep the risk low! So deal with it!"

"Ow!" Both Knuckles and Tails shouted as they both received a quick back hand from Cream. They quickly shut up and sat there stunned with open mouths.

"Stop fighting! We've got to work together if we're going to do this…"

"Hey, look behind us!" Tails exclaimed, pointing into the mirror.

"Car headlights. It has to be them, it must be. Well, they are probably only just on the horizon behind us, so if we keep this speed up they must be about five or six hours behind, unless they really floor it, but I can't see them doing that." Knuckles said.

"They could just be normal road users." Replied Tails.

"I wouldn't take that chance. Anyway, Creams right, we'll have to stop fighting and work together. We're all pretty tired and stressed out so we'll have to deal with it. Just do all you can to stay awake." Knuckles said as he tried to go back to sleep again.

Along the edge of the world a bright orange glow began to form when suddenly light poured from the source covering the landscape like a fast flowing river. Touching everything and casting shadows where it couldn't reach. It slowly penetrated the morning mist that hung over the vast and endless fields that covered the surrounding landscape, during the night they must have entered a farming area. After recovering from this spectacle Tails glanced into the rear view mirror, he could see a vehicle, possibly closer than last night. No it was defiantly closer. After running a quick calculation through his head he new they were going about thirty to forty miles faster than they were, it was defiantly not your average motorist.

After a further three hours Knuckles rose from his sleep and quickly came to his senses. After receiving the update from Tails he quickly started to formulate a plan, but it would mean turning off the road they were on and he had no idea when a junction was going to come up and he was sure this car would not last two seconds off road.

"Hey Cream, you know where we are on the map?" Knuckles asked.

"Cream, you there?" Knuckles shook her quite roughly to try and wake her up.

"Oh, hmm, What?" She replied agitated by her abrupt wakening.

"Can you tell us where we are on the map?"

"Uh, oh, I'm afraid we've gone of the edge." Cream said quietly.

"Oh that's just great." Pouted Knuckles folding his arms.

"So, what's the plan because it's really gaining now." Tails said.

"Just sit tight and wait for a junction and if they do start shooting, try and avoid them the best you can." Knuckles tried to hopelessly reassure Tails. Tails couldn't help but think that Knuckles was enjoying this slightly. "We're not gonna stop for a while though I'm afraid."

For the next hour the trio sat there, waiting, watching the car get closer. They could now see it was an off-roader, the one from the car park. It was now less than a mile behind. Everyone in the car could feel the tension. Within the last hour, every one of them had prayed, at least once, that the car would not become a steel coffin. Knuckles unclipped his seat belt. Withdrew his .45 Colt from one of his bags. The 1911 a classic of it's time Knuckles had always thought. A loud grating of metal followed by a sharp click seemed to echo through the air as Knuckles clumsily loaded a new cartridge. Tails took in a deep breath and fixated his gaze on the road ahead. Knuckles stood up. Turned to head into the back seat.

"GET DOWN!"


	9. Small Welcoming Party

Disclaimer: All Sonic characters (Tails, Knuckles, Cream) copyright Sega/Sonic Team.

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Tails could here Knuckles fumbling with the new cartridge and hated the sound of it being loaded as it grinded through his head. He never envisioned anyone of them handling firearms, but Knuckles clearly broke that impression as he checked the weapon over. Tails sucked in a great breath really hoping the endless road in front of him would not be his last sight. His heart was racing, but he knew he could not look scared, not in front of Knuckles or Cream; he could tell she was at least slightly scared, even though she did very well at hiding it. If only he never went to find Cream, if Cosmo was still alive maybe everything would be different. Just then he was broken out of his train of thought by Knuckles' voice. What was he saying; it took Tails a little while to register it.

"GET DOWN!"

A loud unearthly bang, followed by shattering glass caused everyone to duck and shut their eyes for a second or two. That action resonated with the feel of death, surprisingly it was not a cold feeling Tails thought, more of a muted, startled surprise that left you blank and drained of any feeling for a second or two. Tails quickly recovered from the incident, throwing the car back on course knowing there was far worse to come.

"It's them and they've shot through the back window. Perfect. Now I've got a great sight of them. Drive steady Tails." Knuckles commanded, laughing slightly under his breath.

Is he really enjoying this, Tails thought to himself. His suspicion was confirmed when Knuckles screamed something that cannot be repeated, out of what was the back window, whilst punching the air. A few seconds later another shower of bullets were screaming towards the car. Tails quickly swerved the car onto the far side of the road avoiding all but a few of the lumps of lead which ricocheted lively off the doors. Knuckles was thrown across the back seat, crushing Cream into the door leaving a trail of blood against the white leather upholstery. Knuckles quickly looked up to see his weapon fly out of the back window.

"Looks like Cream's just been knocked out, she's cut on the glass as well." Knuckles shouted.

"She's still breathing right?" Tails shouted back.

"Yeah, she'll be fine just concentrate on driving!" Knuckles commanded, before shouting "Come and get it you..!"

The car swerved just in time not to hit an oncoming car, silencing Knuckles has he fell to the back floor. As soon as this happened another hail of gunfire could be heard, for some reason though Tails carried on along his course. The car then jolted slightly as Knuckles saw their former rear tyre and wheel disappear into a sea of sparks and smoke. Their situation was defiantly less than favourable Knuckles decided.

"Whoa, what just happened? The car keeps pulling to the right, it's really hard to control Knuckles." Tails shouted emerging from his thoughts.

"We lost our back tyre and we're leaking petrol by the looks of it, we've got to think of something fast. My gun flew out the back window. Think Tails think!" Knuckles was beginning to sound panicky again, not something that Tails needed right now.

Both went quiet, Knuckles watching as the great four by four came closer and closer. He could see the passenger getting ready to shoot again from the back seat. The passenger leaned out the window. Lifted his sunglasses onto his head. Spat out his gum and took aim. His hand moved, steadying the rifle. By now the vehicle was close enough for Knuckles to see a finger put pressure onto the trigger. Then after a couple more seconds, nothing.

What were they doing? Knuckles could then see the off-roader pick up speed. The marksman moved to the front passenger seat, then the vehicle changed lanes so they would be on the right hand side of the car. Knuckles then suddenly realised something. The animal holing the weapon was a squirrel like creature, only slightly bigger than a young child. Perfect.

"Tails. This is what we're gonna do."

After explaining to Tails Knuckles took up his position on the back seat again, pretending to hide a gun in his jacket. Tails placed all his attention onto the road again, waiting to hear Knuckles command. The jeep crept forward, slowly closing in on them. It was now close enough to see the name on the vehicle badge. Tails could hear the engine of it and see it clearly through his mirror. It was getting unquestionably too close for comfort.

Knuckles could see it was close and almost lost his nerve, but he reminded himself timing is everything, then glanced around the car, looking at his passengers. Cream was still knocked out cold, but breathing. Tails had an extreme look of tension and concentration on his face. If he screwed his face up anymore the skin on the back of his head would split. The front of the off-roader began to creep up the right side of their car. The squirrel was now staring at Knuckles down the barrel of his gun. He placed his finger on the trigger again. Licked his lips then…

"NOW!"

Tails turned the car to the right causing the cars tyres to release a painful scream. The off-roader sharply followed suit, although not as elegantly. The squirrel assassin perched on the window edge flew to the road, his skull shattered on the ground instantly releasing a pool of blood. As soon as Tails hit the dusty verge he turned the wheel to the left sending dust into the car behind and leaving a massive puddle of petrol. As they hit the tarmac the broken rear wheel hit the ground sending sparks flying into the air again. The off-roader drove through the now burning puddle of fuel, trying relentlessly to catch up with them again. The driver of the four by four floored the machine knowing the underside was on fire.

"No. He's gaining on us; this might be it if he gets too close! I wanted the damn thing to roll over." Knuckles shouted to himself.

The great four by four now had flames streaming from the rear caused by the draft of air passing over the vehicle. The air above shimmering in the heat. The driver had a clear look of determination planted on his face; he had a job to do and was going to finish it no matter what got in his way. His allegiance to Sven was like that of Japanese kamikaze pilots to their country. Just like a kamikaze pilot he gave his life to Sven.

The jeep exploded right before Knuckles face. The heat from the explosion flew through the car along with the smell of burning rubber and oil. The explosion sent the vehicle a couple of feet into the air, its tailgate flying open in the blast. Knuckles could see the face of the driver just at the begging of the explosion. His look did not flinch, he died with the same look of determination he came after them with, a shame no one would be able to make out his expression after the blast, Knuckles mused to himself. All that was left now was a black plume of smoke in the distance.

"Hey. Well done kiddo. You got us out of that one. I just hope that wasn't a small welcoming party because going by the determination of those two, the main party will be a real blood fest and you know what, I'm kinda hoping there is a party." Knuckles said with a strange smile on his face.

"You are joking right? Anyway, how's Cream?" Was all Tails could reply..

"Yeah, she'll be fine. I'll try and bring her round, keep driving and as soon as you see another car." Knuckles winked at Tails as he climbed into the front to grab a bottle of water and a cloth. "And you know what, I think I was joking. I really hope there isn't anything else in store, but there will be something. I just know it."


	10. We're Not Stopping Now

Disclaimer: All Sonic characters (Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Cream) copyright Sega/Sonic Team.

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IT'S UNFORTUNATE YES. THOSE WERE TWO DEAR FRIENDS AND TALENTED AGENTS BUT THEY WILL NOT DIE IN VAIN WILL THEY?

"No Boss. I will follow through with your instructions. Those three will not see another sunrise again, I will give my life to make sure of it."

GOOD, NOW THAT'S COMMITMENT AND DEFINITELY A SACRIFICE WORTH MAKING WOULDN'T YOU AGREE?

"Yes Boss. I will die for a purpose, reason, a worthy cause."

THAT'S RIGHT. IN MY EYES YOU WILL DIE IN A STATE OF GLORY. BUT HARRISON, WAIT. DON'T JUST KILL THEM, TOY WITH THEM. I WANT TO SEE FEAR IN THEIR EYES AND I WANT SUFFERING. REMEMBER, IT'S BECAUSE OF THEIR FRIEND I WAS LOCKED AWAY FROM THE WORLD FOR TWO YEARS .

"O.K Boss. I'll make 'em squirm."

THAT'S WHAT I LIKE, AND WHEN I TO JOIN THE CHOIR INVISIBLE I WILL SEARCH YOU OUT AND CONGRATULATE YOU ON YOUR SUCCESSFUL LAST MISSION.

"Boss."

YES?

"I'm pleased to have served for such a worthy chief."

THE WORTHIEST AND MOST LOYAL

The high pitched squeal of a car alarm resonated through the air, cutting through the still of the night with ease. The area around the car was suddenly flood lit revealing a red echidna fiddling beneath its bonnet. After a few unrepeatable words and a couple of loud grunts the alarm stopped and was replaced by the rumbling of the engine. All the doors slammed and within a couple of seconds the car vanished into the night behind a stream of choking smoke.

Cream slowly came to, hauling herself out of a groggy concussion induced sleep. Before she opened her eyes she noticed she was leaning against something warm and furry. Whatever it was it was comfortable, then she thought it must be Tails as they were obliviously still in the car as she could hear the droning and constant mechanical whirring. Should she open her eyes and risk showing that she is actually awake or wait a little longer so she could stay like this. Cream decided to risk a quick glance. What she saw took her aback slightly.

"Oh, uh, morning Cream." Tails said nervously, a slight blush creeping across his muzzle.

"Morning Tails." Cream replied fairly cheerfully. She felt a little embarrassed for him. _How long was he staring at me for_? She wondered.

"Do you always watch people sleep then, or is it just me?" Cream said jokingly, trying to wind him up slightly.

"Well, uh, I wasn't um, you just looked so peaceful I guess, I ah…Just checking you were o.k, 'kay?"

"I'm just messing around with you Tails. Don't worry about it and I'm feeling fine, thanks."

"Hey you guys, look, we're almost here. We've made it. Only fifty miles to go!" Knuckles said sounding quite pleased with himself. "We better stop for food first though, it's almost nine and I'm starving. How ya feeling now Cream?"

"O.k I guess."

After their brief road battle with Sven's assassins Knuckles managed to bring Cream round. Her injuries were not as severe as they had looked, mainly only a large gash on the side of her face caused by the piece of glass that had found its way into the cut. After coming round for about an hour she feel asleep again and in that time Tails and Knuckles had found another car, after all, driving on three wheels was pretty risky. When taking a quick look at the old car they found the petrol tank had only split towards the top, so they only lost about half their fuel over the road. Now things were beginning to look up, they had avoided one hit on their lives and there was only another fifty miles to travel.

After half an hour they came across a small restaurant on the outskirts of Amy's town and greedily ate breakfast and grabbed a few more supplies for the remainder of the journey. After buying a map of he town they all headed back toward the car, unknown to them a very large, black, well built panda like creature wearing a full length brown leather coat was taking a keen interest in them from the driver seat of his car. As the trio pulled out onto the road, the panda steadily followed them.

_We're coming Amy. I just hope we're not too late. _Knuckles then patted the inside pocket of his newly acquired jacket; only to feel slightly depressed as he realised he lost his gun in the chase. Knuckles had a gut feeling that this would be his last day on Mobius, something was coming, he new from the start of this journey that it would be a journey to his death, the final curtain was coming and it was growing impatient. As long as he could save Tails, Cream and Amy it would be worth it. At least something good would come out of his death.

The three travelled the last part of the journey in silence each lost in their thoughts. All three could feel a certain oppressive, heavy cloud above them. They all thought something was going to happen, it was not a feeling; it was more a definite, total primitive sense. Maybe Amy had already been killed by Sven. He could be holding her captive in her own home, she could have escaped and ran already. Knuckles new it was possible that he had given Amy's location away by that phone call a couple of days back, but he had to take the risk and let Amy know they were coming.

Knuckles pulled the car over to the side of the road and turned the engine off, looking around as he did. He then focused on the row of houses opposite. The street was a very normal, tidy looking place set in a quiet part of the city; just an average looking road. The houses all had bay windows with small, abnormally bright green lawns in front of them, complete with a short path leading up to the front door. It almost looked as perfect as a picture would have been.

"This is it. Amy's house is that one, number thirty six. Listen you guys. We've made it this far and now I'm hoping we can walk in their pick Amy up and leave again, but something tells me it won't be that simple." Knuckles began explaining.

Both Tails and Cream nodded.

"Sven may well have beaten us to her and so we must be careful, keep looking around and be vigilant, I don't want anything to happen to any of us, o.k? I have no idea what's behind that door so we must be careful and if I say run, run. No questions. What I say goes, got it?"

"Yes" they both replied in unison.

"Good" Knuckles replied. "Wait here"

With that Knuckles left the car, looking around as he crossed the road. He then crept up to the house and peered through the coroner of the window; nothing, just furniture. He then scurried along to the window on the door and…Nothing. He then placed an ear to the door, but could hear nothing, not a sound. Something was wrong. Amy could never be this quiet and she would not leave knowing they were coming, surely. He stepped back and took a quick visual glance at the whole house, trying to see into the bedrooms. With the wave of his hand he summoned Tails and Cream over. Tails quickly flew to the top windows, trying to stay out of site the best he could and he saw…nothing. The house looked decidedly empty, no one was home.

"Something's not right." Knuckles muttered. "O.K, I'm gonna break the door down, something's wrong. From this point on guys it's gonna get dangerous, so you can turn back now and wait in the car or come with me, but you may, o.k, probably will get hurt."

"We came for Amy and we're not stopping now! We're going to help!" Cream said forcefully.

"If you're sure." Knuckles said.

Knuckles then moved to the front door, ready to throw himself at it, just as he was about to a breath of wind blew and the door creaked open slightly. Someone had just opened the door whilst they were talking. Knuckles then approached the door, placing a hand on the plastic front. He slowly pushed it open and as he brought his eyes up to see what was in front of him, he was horrified. The saliva in his mouth quickly withdrew, his legs became weak, he was just stunned and stood like a statue staring at the spectacle in front of him, he had seen worse but somehow, this was different, more real.

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_Sorry for not updating in a while, been a bit busy with various things! I hope to upload the rest by the end of the week, depends how long it takes to check it all I suppose.  
_


	11. Come With Me

Disclaimer: All Sonic characters (Tails, Knuckles, Cream, Amy) copyright Sega/Sonic Team.

Just a quick note for if you are following this story – this chapter along with chapter 10 have been updated at the same time, thought I would mention it in case you start reading this chapter without first reading the previous chapter!

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"Time gentleman please." The black Panda laughed beneath his breath as he slowly rose from his car.

It was now seven in the evening and the black panda had his greatest ally with him, darkness. You could do anything and everything with the cover of darkness. What would be prying, inquisitive eyes all around him were useless in the dark, that's why he loved it so much, he and darkness had an inseparable bond, they worked together to get the messy jobs finished.

He let a final chuckle escape before reaching for a large rucksack that he quickly threw over the top of his back. As he did so he hit the roof of his car, the bag emitted a very hard, metallic sound, not normally associated with textiles. Beneath the bag what looked like a large chain hung down, flapping around as he reached into his car again. This time he emerged with a belt, only strapped to it were packages all connected together. After wrapping the belt around his waist he reached into the car again and revealed a mini-gun.

"I may need you this time." The black panda, Harrison, muttered beneath his breath.

He straightened out his leather coat then locked the door of his car for reasons he could not really comprehend. He new he was not going to return to the car or feel the warm, evening air again. He was now walking toward the house, silent and stealthy, tracing the steps the others had taken a few hours earlier…

As Knuckles gently pushed the door open he realised there was no turning back now, what he saw horrified him. His eyes wondered past the light pink wallpaper, the crazy mini chandelier type light shade at the foot of the stairs and focused on the green carpet of the stairs. At the top on the wall was a blood stained hand print and right down the middle of the stairs was a trail of soaked in blood. They were too late, it was all over.

"Knuckles, what's wrong?" Cream asked concerned.

What should he say? Could he even let her look? He decided he did not really have a choice.

"You better take a look for yourselves, it's not pretty. I think we were just too late." Knuckles explained.

The two wondered over as Knuckles stepped aside. Both put their hands to their mouths in astonishment, looking on with wide, fearful eyes. Tears came to Creams eyes as she stared at the dried up river that caused her to start gagging. Cream quickly turned to escape the scene and walked outside again, taking in the city air. Tails just continued to look on, unsure of what to do.

"So, what does this mean for us?" Tails struggled to stay.

"I…I don't know, I don't know what to do. It looks like quite a struggle went on upstairs, if you look around the corner there you can see hand prints smeared everywhere. I think it's safe to say Amy's gone Tails…"

Just then a muffled scream interrupted Knuckles, followed by a door slamming. The sound of hands clapping together started but it was hard to focus on where they were coming from. The sound seemed to echo and resonate throughout the building. Then after four or five claps a familiar figure stood at the top of the stairs, hands held together in front of him.

YOUR POWERS OF DEDUCTION ARE, SHALL WE SAY, PHENOMANAL KNUCKLES. IN FACT I'LL EVEN LET YOU AND YOUR BRILLIANT MIND FIGURE OUT WHAT I'M GOING TO TELL YOU NEXT.

"Sven what have you done with her? What are you doing this for?" Knuckles shouted at him.

WATCH YOUR MOUTH, PLEASE. WE'RE INDOORS, USE YOUR INDOOR VOICE. NOW IF YOU WOULD ALL LIKE TO COME IN AND SHUT THE DOOR. WE DON'T WANT TO UPSET THE NEIGHBOURS DO WE? I WILL TELL YOU EVERYTHING AND REVEAL ALL, WELL MOST OF IT, A TRUE MAGICIAN NEVER REVEALS HIS SECRETS YOU KNOW.

Knuckles let out a huge breath of pent up air and turned to Tails.

"You and Cream can leave if you want, you're not involved yet. This isn't going to be pretty."

"No, we won't. We're in this together now. We have to help you. Besides, Cream said she wasn't going to leave." Tails said very solemnly.

Tails then signalled for Cream to come in, who quickly shut the door behind her. By the time all three of them were standing in the hallway Sven was at the foot of the stairs looking on with an empty, vacant expression. He looked very white and withdrawn, almost sick, well sicker than he already was.

AMY MADE ME SUFFER IN PRISON FOR TWO YEARS. IN ORDER TO KEEP MY STATUS AND SO NO ONE WOULD THINK I AM A SOFT TOUCH I HAD TO TAKE REVENGE. IT WAS ALSO PAY BACK, NO ONE TURNS ME IN AND GETS AWAY WITH IT. I ALWAYS HAVE MY REASONS. YOU SEE, IF FOR ONE MOMENT I HESITATE IN SORTING SOMETHING LIKE THIS OUT I LOOSE ALL CREDIBILITY AND MY WORK FORCE LEAVE WHICH ISN'T VERY GOOD FOR ME REALLY, IS IT? PURELY BUSINESS AS YOU CAN SEE.

"We thought that much, now where's Amy? You better not have harmed her!" Tails said getting quite feisty.

ALL IN GOOD TIME. FOR SOMEONE WHO TOOK THREE DAYS TO GET HERE YOU ARE QUITE IMPATIENT. ANYWAY, YOU HAVE KNUCKLES TO THANK FOR MY SPEEDY ARRIVAL. I HAVE CONTACTS ON THE PHONE NETWORK KNUCKLES. EVERY CONVERSATION YOU HAD SINCE I WAS PLACED IN PRISON HAS BEEN RECORDED, IT WAS FROM YOUR CALL AT THE RESTAURANT THAT REVEALED AMY'S LOCATION TO ME. PRETTY SOON YOU WILL ALL BE UNDER MY WING, TOILING AWAY FOR ME.

"Never Svenson. We'll never work for a heartless creep like you!" Knuckles spat.

IN THAT CASE THEN, YOU WILL NEVER SEE THE LIGHT OF ANOTHER DAY. SO YOU SEE, YOU DO NOT HAVE ANY SAY IN THIS MATTER. I HAVE DECIDED YOUR FATE, ALL FOUR OF YOU. YOU THREE SHOULD CONSIDER YOURSELVES LUCKY, FOR AMY THE DEAL IS NOT NEARLY AS SWEET.

The house then fell silent, the kind of silence that falls like a dark, heavy blanket smothering everything, creating an oppressive, suffocating atmosphere. Something was coming next, the newly found silence said it all; the smirk on Sven's face merely confirmed their suspicions. The three took a cautionary glance at each other to see if they could guess what it was, the look on their faces revealed nothing. A loud click then fractured the silence making the trio stand perfectly still as they slowly moved their eyes to meet Sven again.

They were met with the barrel of a small hand gun.

NOW, I THINK IT'S IN YOUR BEST INTERETS TO COME WITH ME.


	12. Time

Disclaimer: All Sonic characters (Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Cream) copyright Sega/Sonic Team.

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Knuckles opened his eyes to a hazy, confused world. After collecting his senses he sat up slowly and took in the new sights and the feeling of the itchy carpet beneath. He tried to recall what happened and why he was no longer at the bottom of the stairs. Knuckles searched down into the furthest depths of his mind trying to force his memory to reveal anything that might be a clue. No use. He had nothing. Knuckles glanced to his left and saw both Cream and Tails lying on the floor, probably asleep for the same reason he was. The carpet was the same green that was on the stairs, but the wallpaper was a very neutral pastel cream, fairly tasteful Knuckles thought. The room was defiantly a bedroom, the bed directly in front of the window a dead give away. At the foot of the bed a small chest of draws lived and next to the head of the bed was a wardrobe, masking Knuckles view of the top end of the bed.

Knuckles glanced at Cream and Tails again, wondering whether to try and rouse them or let them get some rest, with any luck they would never wake up again and avoid the inevitable blood shed that Knuckles decided was looming in the not too distant future. First though he had to assess this new situation, maybe there was an escape. Knuckles then suddenly stopped his train of thought and swung his head back around to face the bed. There was; there was defiantly a body lying on the bed, silhouetted in the last of the evening light pouring in through the window.

"Is that?" Was all Knuckles could manage.

Knuckles eyes were suddenly looking down a tunnel, blocking out everything except the figure lying on the bed. He knew who it was; no one needed a second guess. He just hoped that it was more than just a body. He approached the bed and slowly bent down to put his cheek near her mouth. He noticed how tired she looked, then noticed the huge laceration down the left hand side of her face accompanied by a couple of deep cuts on the other side as well as a few bruised areas. After waiting for a few seconds the thought that she was dead crept into his mind, then he felt it. A slight warm breeze against his cheek that somehow managed to blow the weight of the world that had rested upon his shoulders for the last few days away.

"She must be out cold like the rest of us." He muttered to himself.

He heard something stir at the other end of the room and quickly spun around. His heart was pounding, he really had no idea what was going on now or what was going to happen next which was making Knuckles abnormally nervous. Luckily he found himself looking at Tails rubbing his eyes, trying to bring himself back into the land of the living.

"Hey Knuckles, what…oh…where are we now?" Tails said as his memory suddenly flew back to him.

"I think we are still in the house. Something strange is going on. He must have knocked us out cold, but I have a feeling he could have given us something to knock us out. Either way, I don't think he's finished with us yet."

"I'm beginning to get scared now Knuckles." Tails worryingly admitted.

"I am to, just try and be strong o.k. We've got Cream and Amy to look after now," Knuckles said as Tails gave a surprised look, "Over there on the bed. I'm guessing she's been knocked out like the rest of us."

"Whoa, she's been beaten bad Knuckles."

"I know, and I think it might happen to us. We have to think of a way to get out alive and unharmed. It will have to be quick whatever." Knuckles stated bluntly.

As Tails was about to respond they heard the click of a gun being prepared to fire followed by a muffled and weak knock at the door. The two carefully and slowly crept over to the door to see if they could glance underneath or through the crack in the side. That was when all hope of escape quickly vaporised.

I CAN HEAR YOU IN THERE. I'M GLAD YOU'RE ALL AWAKE NOW, WOULDN'T WANT YOU TO MISS THE EXCITING FINALE, IT'S AT SEVEN IN CASE YOU DIDN'T KNOW. JUST SO YOU KNOW IT'S NOW SIX THIRTY, SORRY I DIDN'T GET YOU ANYTHING TO EAT, BUT YOU KNOW, WOULDN'T WANT TO WASTE GOOD FOOD. ESPECIALLY AS YOU ONLY HAVE HALF AN HOUR LEFT TO LIVE.

"You absolute bastard!" Knuckles screamed through gritted teeth, followed by a swift punch at the door.

PLEASE, DON'T HIT THE DOOR. THIS IS SOMEONE ELSE'S HOUSE AFTER ALL, AT LEAST SHOW SOME RESPECT. ANYWAY, YOU HAD BETTER LIVE YOUR LAST MINUTES TO THE FULL. I MUST TELL YOU THOUGH, BEST NOT TO TRY AND SCHEME A WAY OUT. I HAVE MYSELF A TWO BARREL SHOT GUN AGAINST THIS DOOR AND A MINI GUN IS POINTING DOWN THE HALLWAY HERE, THAT GIVES OFF AROUND SIX HUNDRED ROUNDS A MINUTE. AS FOR THE WINDOWS… THEY'RE SEALED SHUT AND THE ONLY WAY TO GET THROUGH IS TO BREAK THE GLASS. I HAD A FEELING THOUGH YOU MAY WANT TO TRY SMASHING THE WINDOW SO I'VE FITTED THEM WITH MOTION ACTIVATED PLASTIC EXPLOSIVES THAT SHOULD FINISH YOU OFF SOONER IF YOU TRY, BUT I WOULDN'T RECOMMEND IT. I'VE HIRED A REAL PROFESSIONAL WHO ONLY DOES THE VERY IMPORTANT JOBS. YOU FOUR SHOULD CONSIDER YOURSELF LUCKY, SO PLEASE, DO ENJOY IT.

"Well, that's it, we might as well give up." Knuckles said dejectedly.

"No, there has to be a way, there has to be." Tails said whilst shaking Knuckles, panicking.

"Tails, stop. He's covered everything, there is no escape, believe me, lets just wait it out." Knuckles sounded empty and distant, Tails had never heard him give up or seen him give up. He realised then there really was no way out.

"At least, let's try and wake Cream and Amy, I wouldn't mind saying goodbye and maybe some other things." Tails said, looking at Creams sleeping form. He couldn't believe within half and hour they would be dead.

"No, leave them. With any luck they won't wake up, they don't need to see or feel what is going to happen."

"But…I…well…after all this travelling and time and…" Tails trailed off.

"Maybe…maybe we might be able to do something when they come, but I wouldn't hold your breath Tails," Knuckles offered.

"Who knows, maybe we'll all meet up after this, though I doubt you'll see me, I've been ridin' somewhere south of heaven for a couple of years now," Knuckles forced a slight chuckle as he said this; though it just added to the emptiness he was feeling. He new his time was up from the moment he left his office, but he never saw it for Cream, Tails and Amy.

So that was it, they had travelled for three days, covered hundreds of miles, stole several cars, escape near death on the road trying to fight off Sven's cronies to save a friend but instead they were going to die in a room, a cream and green lined coffin.


	13. Final Meeting

Disclaimer: All Sonic characters (Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Cream) copyright Sega/Sonic Team.

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"Oh, I'm still here. Great." A croaky voice uttered sarcastically.

Amy very quickly came to her senses, revealing to Tails and Knuckles that she had not lost any of her bright, more than enthusiastic energy over the years. The two quickly got up off the floor and joined Amy next to the bed. All three smiled at each other, quietly ecstatic that they were actually looking at each other again, for one brief moment they forgot about everything, the group tried to savour the moment as when reality rejoined them again they realised that was the last happy moment of their lives, it was only another fifteen minutes after all.

"You guys made it. Thank-you! I'm just sorry it all has to end this way." She said wearily.

"Amy that's fine, you didn't know what would happen. We all new the risk involved, anyway, you know how impulsive I can be at times." Knuckles said trying to comfort her.

"Yeah, I don't mind either Amy. Anyway, what happened to you?" Tails asked.

"He arrived yesterday. I came back from doing a little shopping and he was waiting for me at the top of the stairs. I didn't know. He tried to knock me out, but you know me, I won't go down easy. Anyway, he tried whacking me on the head with a metal pole or something, but I ducked and the only thing I could think of doing was biting his hand, hard." Amy answered, sounding fairly pleased with herself.

"So that's who's handprint was on the wall?" Knuckles said

"Mmm-hmm. So he then grabbed my head and cut my face here and here, I couldn't see what he did it with, but it was defiantly not sharp, it was really painful, that might have be when I blacked out, I'm not sure. I woke up in this room once before, it's my spare one, then he came in with water for me, it must have had something in it as I fell asleep again until now, I should have known."

"Is that what could have happened to us Knuckles?" Tails asked.

"I don't know, I can't remember a thing, just being on the stairs one minute and here the next. It's crazy I tell you. He's crazy!" Knuckles said passionately.

"Hey, anyway, I have a feeling he's not going to let any of us go now, so do you know what's happening?" Amy asked fairly hopeful.

Knuckles and Tails looked at each other, as they caught each others stare they saw flashbacks of the past days events cross the others eyes. Both let out a sigh then scratched their necks, trying to reassure themselves. Eventually Knuckles decided it was his responsibility to tell her, at least he wouldn't sugar coat it in anyway, although neither Tails or Amy were ready for how bluntly he was going to put it.

"Our time is up at seven tonight, so I think we have about, what, fifteen minutes left? Yeah. That's it I'm afraid."

Amy just started blankly, looking through the adjacent wall waiting for the message to sink in. At least her days of running away and hiding in fear were over. She would be at peace then. Just then something caught her eye; it was a body on the floor. One she thought she recognised, was it her old friend? She could defiantly see a similarity.

"Is…Is that Cream?" She asked carefully.

"Yeah it is, unfortunately she got dragged into this as well." Knuckles replied.

"Wow, she's so different, older, I know we've all grown a bit, but she's changed as well, she's so more…beautiful I guess. Out of every one of us I could never imagine her growing up. How has she been over the years?"

"From what she's told me she seems to have lived a happy life. Her mum died last year, but she seems okay now. She moved to a small cottage when it happened. Yeah, she's very happy Amy, what about you?" Tails asked, slightly curious as to how her life had panned out.

"That's good, Cream was my best friend, I also wondered how she was living, but I decided it was too dangerous for her to keep in contact with me. As for my life Tails, I've moved three times, running from Sven. Trying to stay alive has been my life. I'm tired of it all. Not being able to make new friends or see you guys. I was really excited when Knuckles said he was coming to take me away from it all, back to you guys, but I knew, something told me it wouldn't work out. I knew Sven would get in the way." Amy sighed looking back onto the bed, then she slid her legs out over the side and carefully stood up, gently introducing the strain to her legs and walked to stroke Cream gently on the head.

Cream slowly stirred, carefully opening her eyes, but they failed to focus for the first couple of attempts. Eventually as the haze receded she caught sight of the green carpet and the bed in front of her, then she felt a hand on her head and quickly jumped up, her heart racing, thinking it was Sven or someone she quickly threw her arm in the general direction behind her throwing Amy onto the floor. After hearing the squeal she turned around and suddenly realised it was Amy.

"Oh Amy. AMY!" She screamed in delight suddenly realising it was her best friend.

"Hey Cream, don't worry about it. It's great to see you again, you look, well, great! So much older and oh, I've really missed you Cream." Amy said facing the rabbit as she heaved herself off the floor.

"I'm really glad to see you to Amy. I've missed you as well, nearly every day." Cream said.

By now tears had began to build up in their eyes. It had been six years since they had seen each other and now they had only six minutes in which to enjoy each others company again. If only it was that long. From Tails lookout sitting on the bed, he saw a car pull up and a huge black panda get out who began to slowly pick up several objects from the car, most noticeable was a large back-pack that made a most metallic sound when it struck the car. Tails quickly concluded that the panda was no ordinary person. Especially when he saw the ammo hanging from the back-pack and the gun was a definite give away. What really closed the deal was when he looked up at the bedroom window and began making steps towards the house.

"This is it you guys." Tails said shakily. A sudden wave of sickness flew from his feet to his head, eventually settling in the front of his stomach.


	14. Ready To Fight

Disclaimer: All Sonic characters (Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Cream) copyright Sega/Sonic Team.

_A/N:This and the next chapter were one, but it made one extrememly long chapter, so I split it into two parts which is why this chapter is fairly short. Just in case you wanted to know.  
_

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The strange panda emerged from the car and suited up, grabbing his weapon and back-pack. He glanced up to the house before taking a lumbering stride towards the building; following closely were the last few minutes of their lives, the end not too far behind that. Tails turned around to the others.

"This is it you guys." He let out a sigh. "Look who's coming."

Everyone slowly walked over to the window, time seemed to slow down to a glacier speed as it took what seemed hours to reach the glass and peer out. When everyone crowded around and looked at the loaded figure below their hearts sank to their stomachs. A wave of disbelief came crashing down on each and everyone. Cream broke the silence by letting out a small whimper caused by her inhaling a lung full of air. Amy stared at the panda in disbelief her mouth wide open trying to say something but her mind just could not figure out how to move it or what to say. Tails glanced up to see Cream's sad, distressed face. Knuckles on the other hand had turned his attention away from the window feeling useless.

"So, this is the end?" Cream asked, her words made it sound like a normal occurrence.

"No. No you're not, none of us are. I might be tired of running but I'm not too tired to fight." Amy said regaining control over herself.

"Wait, we wouldn't have to fight. Amy's right we can escape, all of us, but we have to work quick, now here's the plan." Knuckles said softly so Sven didn't hear. After he said that the muffled sound of the front door being thrown open thumped through the house.

"Quick, listen we don't have much time!"

Harrison, the black panda looked up at the house and nodded in approval. It was a well kept house that looked incredibly neat and well looked after, in fact, probably the best in the street. He cast his eyes over the great flower arrangement hanging off the bottom windows, the well kept and perfectly green patch of grass at the front. It was a flawless house, shame he would have to ruin it he thought.

"Well, best get on with it." He muttered to himself.

He crept towards the front door and placed his paw on the door to see if it was open. It slowly pushed back revealing a crack which Harrison stuck one eye through to check what was behind the door. He had not heard from Sven in about two hours, so anything could have happened. He had lived through seventeen assassinations and he was not about to be killed by a pink hedgehog and her friends. He threw back the door and jumped to the side of the door frame keeping a sharp eye on what was behind. All that was revealed was a hallway with three closed doors lining it and on the left a flight of stairs with Sven standing at the top.

"I made it boss." Harrison said as he made his way towards the stairs, trying not to sound surprised that Sven was hanging around. If things went wrong now, he would have to alter his plans.

I SEE THAT. A FEW MINUTES EARLY AS WELL, YOU KNOW I LIKE PUNCTUALITY. THEY'RE UP HERE AND, COULD YOU BE QUICK? I HAVE TO TAKE THE WIFE OUT AT EIGHT NOW. I'M MEETING AT THE AIRPORT FIRST THOUGH. I TRUST YOU CAN CLEAN UP CAN'T YOU? HERE ARE THE KEYS.

As Harrison reached the top step Sven lifted the keys out of his pocket and placed his hand over Harrisons ready to drop them into his. As he was about to let go a massive explosion rocked the house right down through to the foundations. The keys flew into the air and landed half way down the stairs. Sven and Harrison glanced at each other understandingly and quickly turned to run towards the source of the sound, the room the captives were in.


	15. Last Choice

Disclaimer: All Sonic characters (Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Cream) copyright Sega/Sonic Team.

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"So you understand the plan?" Knuckles whispered.

Everyone surrounding him nodded in agreement. They quickly glanced at one another in a way that said; if we don't make it, goodbye. They then split from their huddle; Knuckles went towards the door ready to take on whoever came through. The other three walked over to the bed, quickly stripped it of its covers revealing the light blue mattress. Each grabbed the side of it and yanked it from its position on the bed.

"Let's turn it round so it's long ways." Amy commanded.

"Right," Tails replied, he felt obligated to say something.

Puffing and panting, fighting through the tiredness and exhaustion of the last three days they called on their last amounts of strength, lifted the mattress and turned it around. They fell silent for a few seconds, listening to the sounds on the stairs realising how little time they actually had. They all looked at Knuckles who simply waved his hand and mouthed, get on with it, with an expression of urgency to match.

"On my count, ready?" Amy said breathlessly. "1…2…3!"

The animals sucked in one last breath and began stumbling forward with the mattress, lifting it to make sure it cleared the bed, with one huge final burst of energy they threw it forward. Amy and Cream who were on the sides collapsed next to the bed, covering their ears. Tails, who was at the back, continued trying to push the bulky block through the air, putting him in a prime position to view what happened next.

The mattress hit the window with a thump, then as the rest caught up with it, squashing the front, it broke through the glass with a massive, bright, bone-shattering explosion. The air became nothing but a field of glass shards, spreading out as far as they could reach. When the light from the explosion dimmed Tails could see the great hole where the window was, and the mattress falling to earth just beyond the gap. The window frame followed the mattress in pieces as well as a few bits of masonry. A few of the glass shards then found his wide open eyes and decided to settle their. Everything then went dark as he tried to remove the glass splinters.

"Tails!" Cream screamed.

KILL THEM! Screamed another voice.

"Knuckles!" Amy shouted as she noticed him lying against the wall, lifeless.

Time suddenly sped up when Harrison and Sven entered the room, brandishing their weapons, ready to mow them down, in fact time had run out, it no longer existed. Harrison raised his gun, but not before Sven tried to catch Amy as she ran towards Harrison. There was a loud, unnatural sound as Sven released a bullet from his small sidearm. Amy fell to the ground but quickly resumed her course, only grazed by the passing bullet.

"Dah, Christ! You're going to regret that little red thing." Harrison said catching his breath.

"Yeah well, I was gonna die anyway, doesn't make much difference." Knuckles replied.

Harrison was kneeling on the floor with Knuckles lying next to him, slowly trying to get up. If it was one thing he knew, a kick to the groin was enough to bring the strongest of male animals to their knees, if only for a second or two. Amy quickly turned to Cream who was helping Tails to at least open his eyes.

"Cream, Tails, get outta here." She shrieked

"But, what about you Amy?" Cream asked nervously, afraid of what the answer would be.

"We'll come out after you, so just go now! We'll come out as soon as you're gone." Amy shouted as she turned to see the barrel of Sven's shotgun in her face, causing her to yelp in surprise.

Cream decided to listen to Amy, as much as she hated the idea. She hauled Tails up and guided him to the hole where the window once sat. Cream never looked back, she didn't want to. She new they were probably trying to kill her there and then in an attempt to stop them escaping. For all she knew she could have a gun pointing at her, ready to fire. She did not need to know that. The screams and shrieks from Amy and Knuckles reassured her slightly, they were slowing them down. She perched Tails on the wall that was the bottom of the window and told him to hang on.

"The mattress is below, I'm going to push you over now, trust me please." Cream held his hand tightly, not really wanting to let go.

"Cream I trust you. You can let go." Tails said reassuringly.

"Oh Tails. If you don't make it I just want you to know, I really lo…"

STOP THEM HARRISON! I DON'T WANT ANY OF THEM TO ESCAPE, NOT NOW!

Cream quickly pushed Tails over the edge and turned around; Harrison was taking quick aim and getting ready.

Amy saw Sven was distracted, shouting "Not so fast!" she rolled out the way of his gun and kicked Harrisons, forcing it up, knocking his right eye hard.

"Dah, boss!" Harrison shouted, stumbling back slightly.

"Go Cream go!" Amy shouted to her best friend.

Cream gave her one last look, and then glanced at the ground below. Did Tails make it? The sound of a gunshot cut through her head before she felt something bite her on her side. It didn't matter, scared, she quickly lowered herself over the side of the former window and let go. Cream was gone.

I WANT THEM KILLED! GET THEM.

Sven and Harrison began making their way toward Amy who was getting ready to jump. Tails and Cream were still lying there, if they did not move Sven would shoot them to pieces. She couldn't have that. All she could think of doing was leaping towards Harrison, smothering his face and try biting his forehead, a split second decision. Knuckles threw his fists into Sven's back catching him by surprise. Both fell over.

YOU'RE NOT GOING TO STOP US SO JUST GIVE UP!

Amy was lying on the floor, her mouth bleeding as well as the cuts down her face. Somehow she could not feel her legs, it was impossible to get up. Knuckles was feeling weary and weak then he realised he had a stab wound bleeding copiously, he could not recall who gave it to him.

"End of the road for you two." Harrison said, looking down the sight of his gun at the two lifeless bodies, below what was the window. Blood ran from the bite on his forehead covering his face.

Sven brushed Knuckles aside, rolling him into a cabinet and joined Harrison by the window.

FINISH THEM NOW. I'LL GET THESE TWO.

Through a tear in Harrison's coat Knuckles eyed the plastic explosives around his waist, he managed to catch Amy's failing eyes who then wearily looked at Harrison, realised what Knuckles meant and gently nodded before shutting her eyes one last time.

THIS IS IT YOU TWO, I'M FINALLY GETTING RID OF YOU. ALTHOUGH ALL I REALLY WANTED WAS THAT PINK HEDGEHOG. KNUCKLES, YOU JUST MADE IT TOO EASY TO GET ALL FOUR OF YOU. MIND YOU FOUR FOR THE PRICE OF ONE IS NOT HALF BAD, IN FACT, THE LESS OF YOU, THE BETTER, NOW FIRE AT THAT FOX AND HIS FRIEND AND I WILL FINALLY HAVE REVENGE AND BE AT PEACE.

"You wanna bet you're gonna take us all?" Knuckles replied feebly as he crawled towards Harrison, reaching for his belt.

I'M NOT A BETTING MAN

Sven then raised his shotgun towards Amy, wanting to save Knuckles until last. After all, he was the only one left putting up a fight. He licked his lips and made sure his grip on the gun was total and…

"Good bye Sven and your assassin."

Knuckles reached up to Harrison summoning the last of his strength, asking his muscles to work through one last task before being allowed an eternity of rest. He grabbed Harrison's small sidearm and yanked it of his body then began fumbling about trying to prepare it to fire. The strong yank though had attracted Harrison's attention.

"What the?" Harrison muttered, turning around, spotting Knuckles with his handgun.

"You're going first now." Harrison swung his weapon onto Knuckles, not even bothering to aim. Sven then turned his attention to the small commotion.

The great black panda effortlessly raised his gun and through empty eyes looked at its position on Knuckles, the middle of his back. Perfect, nothing beats watching a slow and agonising death. This did not deter Knuckles as he quickly took a rough aim to where he thought the explosives might be wrapped around Harrison.

"Look after yourselves Cream and Tails, if you're still alive. Hopefully we won't see you for a long time" Knuckles muttered under his breath.

Knuckles took one last look at Amy's lifeless form; she slowly parted her eyes, revealing Knuckles brandishing the weapon. With all the effort of trying to lift a mountain, she managed a small, understanding smile.

Harrison tensed his index finger. Applied pressure to the trigger. Sucked in a breath. After two loud shots a brilliant white light filled the room soon pursued by a huge crackling explosion.

The street below lit up as if the sun had suddenly re-entered the sky briefly. The sound echoed throughout the streets of the city, a small rumbling travelling through the earth for a couple of blocks. The roof then fell in on the house, taking part of the roof from the neighbour's houses, along with the adjoining wall of the next house.

After the initial fallout finished and all the debris had settled, followed by the silencing of a few car alarms, nothing was left, just silence and silence was all that was around the house, silence and nothing more until the shrill of sirens broke it in the distance.

----

_The next update may be a while, I may change the end slightly, I cannot decide on the ending I have now, or a more happier one! Shouldn't take too long to decide.  
_


	16. Going Home

Disclaimer: All Sonic characters (Tails, Amy, Cream) copyright Sega/Sonic Team.

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It was the still of night as a tiger like policeman finished taking a statement from his last witness. After finishing he looked back at the house one last time, the fire department had managed to turn it into a collapsed steaming mess before heading off to answer another call. They put the collapse down to structural weakness from the blast. The rubble covered the front garden and spilled out onto the road, the policeman then remembered his colleague was injured because of it.

The officer carefully got into his car, never taking his eyes off the house. From what sense he could make of it, all he found was that at least four people had been killed. A fox, rabbit, red echidna and a black panda either through a suicide, but more than likely in this city is was defiantly murder. The policeman sighed as he started the car, another four lives lost in this city through murder, it was nothing unusual, just more paperwork and that is all it was, by tomorrow the neighbours would have forgotten what happened and would just want to know when their street was going to be cleaned up.

Day light eventually reached the city, flooding the street, chasing away the darkness of the long night and the danger that came with it. The light made sure it reached everything, it wanted to probe everything it could, it reflected off windows, mirrors anything it found. After a few seconds a shaft off light found an open window to bounce off and hit the closed eyes of an orange fox. After a long moment he began to move, trying to avoid it.

He gently began to wake making the occasional groaning noise before opening his mouth in a huge yawn, stretching his arms as far as he could manage. He then had a sudden falling experience before realising he was actually falling; he sent his arms flailing not too sure what to do. He then hit a hard concrete surface.

"Ow! What the?" He muttered to himself lazily.

He looked up at the park bench he just rolled off feeling very confused, not too sure what had just happened. He suddenly felt tired again, all his muscles screaming in agony. He wanted to rejoin his friend on the bench again, but decided against it, the best place now was home. Home? Where was home again? He gently woke his friend by placing a hand on her shoulder and very gently shaking her and to his surprise she suddenly opened a pair of bloodshot eyes and stared at him.

"Oh, hi Tails, how are you feeling?" Cream said weakly, listening to every fibre in her body scream out in pain.

"Oh, uh, I'm…well I'm not too sure, but what…what happened last night exactly? I can remember being pushed out the window and my sight came to me just as a big explos…oh." He suddenly fell quiet and lowered his head after seeing Cream staring into the ground about to cry.

"They're gone Tails. Amy's gone." She said before crying hard into her hands.

"I know Cream, but you know why don't you?" Tails said trying to offer what little reassurance he could.

"'cause Sven killed them?" She asked between sobs.

"No, Sven wouldn't kill himself to do it. Knuckles or Amy obliviously found a bomb or explosives or something that they could set off. They had it planned, they were never intending on coming out after us. They did it to save us Cream. Amy loved you that much she gave her life for yours. She said she was tired of running, more tired than we thought Cream." Tails prayed it would console the rabbit, if only slightly.

"You really think they did that for us?" She started crying even harder, "it…really…still...hurts. I don't think…I'll ever feel the same again." Cream sobbed, trying hard to control herself.

"You will, give it time. Once we get back home, you will feel a lot better."

Cream suddenly quietened slightly, becoming concerned with Tails. "In a minute we better think of some way of getting home. Shouldn't you see a doctor about all that glass that went into your eye?" She said in a soft, croaky voice, trying not to cry, completely forgetting the wound she received from the bullet that grazed her side slightly.

"I'll be fine, I think it all came out. We were quite lucky really, only a few minor scratches." Tails said "and Cream, it's okay to cry if you want, I understand what you're going through. I'm sure I feel the same."

As soon as he said that she threw her arms around him and cried into his shoulder, Tails uneasily placed a hand on her back and gently rubbed it, having never comforted anyone since Cosmo he felt a little uneasy at first and didn't really know how to react. His actions seemed to help though and Tails himself felt better as well. Tails looked up to the sky a small tear rolling down his cheek, he knew the total pain to loose someone close to you, the earth finishing, hollow, empty feeling.

Eventually Cream stopped crying and after a short while was ready to sort out how to get home. They left the park, Tails with his arm around her shoulder trying to make her feel safe. Despite the endless four days they had witness they both had enough energy to sort a plane ride home. They decided it was much quicker and more comfortable to travel by plane; they never wanted to sit in a car again for at least a month.

_Hope that makes a few of you feel slightly better! I will post the final chapter very soon._


	17. Epilogue: Sunset On The Hill

Disclaimer: All Sonic characters (Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Cream) copyright Sega/Sonic Team._  
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_Hi all, this is the final chapter! I wrote two endings and it took me ages to decide which one to use before deciding on this one, it seemed the better choice of the two, so enjoy! _

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Three weeks later and the news of Sven's death echoed through the country, every newspaper article carrying a similar headline, 'Criminal Mastermind Killed'. Tails quickly glanced up from the paper and stared thoughtfully out of the window for a second, smiling as he saw Cream flailing her arms trying to fend off the flies that were hovering around her whilst she did some gardening. He then set his mind back to reading the article to find what the police had found out.

It turned out to be pretty much what he suspected the whole time. Sven had been at the house for about thirty-six hours, holding Amy captive, three creatures then turned up within the final seven or so hours, followed by a large animal in a dark coat at seven in the evening. The result of the blast was caused by a large amount of plastic explosives. The article then went on to say it was highly likely the large animal in the coat had brought the explosives into the house in order to kill anyone who came too close to escaping. The paper continued to say that Sven would not have asked the explosives to be set off until he was clear, so it was decided they were set off accidentally. Tails knew that was not true, it had to be either Amy or Knuckles. The article finished by saying very little was left of all four bodies, except chard remains and the bodies remain unidentifiable except for that of Sven's who was a fairly remote distant from the explosives.

He and Cream had already decided not to come forward as survivors or witness's so as not to jeopardise their lives anymore, the two strangers who started running from the scene just before the final explosion would always remain a mystery. Tails really did not want to put Cream's life in danger anymore; after all, she was all he had left now. Then he remembered something, Creams 'surprise' that she was going to give him weeks ago. He quickly ran to the window and called for her, asking about what it was. After a little explaining and a couple of confused and puzzled expressions from Cream she eventually remembered and came inside to get it, she asked him to go to the hill they were on when Knuckles first called to them.

Tails sat on the hill with a sullen look on his face trying to take his mind back to when Knuckles hunted them down and dragged them into trying to save Amy. His mind then jumped when he realised the fields of wheat in front of him had been harvested, he didn't know why he was surprised but it made him realise a lot had changed over the past four weeks. He came out of hiding, contacted Knuckles then found Cream only to be pulled into an almost bizarre plot of stealing cars and destroying people which eventually lead to the death of a couple of friends. He let out one small mournful sigh followed by a faint chuckle, finding it fairly amusing that all he wanted to do was see everyone again, but ended up going on a long journey that ended up how it did, along with the death of a defiant criminal mastermind.

"Sorry I took so long Tails, I just had to, well, hopefully you'll see why in a minute." Cream said smiling nervously.

"That's fine Cream, I was just thinking about things anyway." Tails responded kindly.

"Oh, what about?"

"You know just about what happened. It was here when Knuckles told us the news."

"Oh, I forgot about that. Shall we move to somewhere else 'cause I don't really want this to be ruined by a memory like that." Cream said rather quickly.

"No here's fine, honest. Anyway are you okay? You seem a little edgy?" Tails asked feeling concerned.

"I'm just fine." Cream said sitting down next to Tails. "It's just, I've been waiting ages to give this to you and I hope you'll like it. Here you go. I also wanted to tell you something as well. I was going to tell you when I gave you this, but then everything happened. So I'll tell, no, ask you now I guess. I've always liked you Tails and well, you haven't been around for ages I know and …I'll, I'll let you open that first." Cream finished her rambling feeling out of breath. She could also feel her head spinning wildly with hundreds of thoughts bouncing around.

Tails continued to stare at her blankly after she finished her confused ranting before looking down to the small package. He had an inkling of what she was trying to say, but decided not to interrupt and let her do it her own way. Tails quickly collected himself and returned to opening the package.

"The packaging is really neat Cream, it's too good to open." He said trying to put her at ease.

He gently untied the ribbon surrounding the present then realised it was a small, navy blue box with a hinged lid. He waited for a moment then carefully lifted the lid up revealing tissue paper, which he quickly brushed aside. He stared at it for a moment not too sure what to make of the gift.

"Well, what do you think?" Cream asked.

"Uh…It's great Cream. I can't believe you did this just for me. Thank you." Tails said smiling at her.

He glanced down at the watch again, looking carefully at the picture on the faceplate; it was a photo that he took of him and Cream sitting on that very hill not long after he came to stay. His eyes then moved down the metal strap to the large fastener, on it was engraved, 'To A Found Friend'. He chuckled slightly after reading it, not realising how sentimental Cream could get.

"Glad you like it. I just wanted to show you how much I missed you." Cream replied, fidgeting with the bottom of her dress. She then decided it was now or never. "Tails, I know you've only really been back for about four or five weeks, but after all we've been through I want to know if…or will you. I really do care about you Tails and now we are on our own together I was wondering if you would like to, well, move in with me? You know, permanently," Cream finally forced it out, wondering why she was so nervous about asking.

The question took Tails aback slightly, it was a completely different question to what he was expecting. The weight lifted, he was ecstatic she had asked him to move in, but a small amount of disappointment then entered into his head, something which he would not understand for a while.

"Yes, I would love to Cream! At least we can look after each other now!"

A huge smiled crawled across Cream's face and before Tails could prepare himself she let out a small shriek of approval before leaping on him and embracing him in a huge hug.

"Oh, Thank-you Tails!" Cream shouted, feeling extremely happy.

They eventually broke off and sat staring across the open fields to the huge panorama of the sky as the sun set casting great red and pink light on the wispy clouds resting against the horizon. They sat there in silence each thinking over the events that they had been through, eventually accepting the deaths of both Amy and Knuckles as well as wondering what the remaining few were up to. Both were quietly confident that they would be seeing one of them sometime soon.

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_That's it! Thank-you for reading and a big thanks to everyone who reviewed, you all helped me along the way, one way or another, with my first story. I was considering a small sequel, but I think everything wrapped up quite nicely in the end anyway. Again, thanks for all your support! _


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